Painter&#39;s guide tool



July 19, 1949. A. REINCKE PAINTER S GUIDE TOOL Filed Oct. 17, 1946 w w m m Ado/f M ATTORNEY My improvement pertains Patented July 19, 1949 to a device employing a. straight blade edgeby means of which a painter in applying his brush to-the surface to be paintedQalong a definite line, can do so without the danger of having the paint spread beyond the line. A tool like that is exceptionally useful where two surfaces meet at an angle, as for example where the pane in a Window sash meets with the frame which is to be painted without spreading the paint upon said sash.

While a number of such devices have been made and while they have proved quite useful, their use did not prevent occasional paint smears beyond the line of demarkation, as paint applied at times in somewhat excessive quantity would find its way beyond the edge ofthe blade. I have accordingly devised my tool with the idea of eliminating the shortcomings of the conventional tools of this kind. As developed by me, th e device is simple, practical and-may be made easily, butincludes its own inventive features by reason of which the danger of any running of'the paint beyond the given line is eliminated. I have also made the provision whereby any excessive paint finding its way beyond the edge of the blade will be absorbed by means incorporated in my tool.

I shall now describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my tool as held by a painter in its operative use;

Figure 2 is a plan view of my tool;

Figure 3 is a sectional View of my tool on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of my tool in its operative position as applied against a glass pane in a sash which is to be painted;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of another species of my tool;

Figure 6 is a sect onal view of the blade part of my tool shown in Figure 5.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In buildin my tool I am using two blades where ordinarily only one blade was used. The blades are abutting each other along their broad surfaces, one being what I shall call the top blade ID, the other the under-blade II. The blades are made of thin sheet metal, preferably steel. The top blade includes a main fiat area iii, a laterally extending inverted trough l3, and an adjacent edge portion l4 terminating in a slanting lip l5. The under-blade I l includes a similar fiat area I6, a lateral inverted trough l1 and an edge portion 18. The trough portions of the two blades are opposed to each other so as to form,

4 Claims. (01. 91-'- -65) UNITED STATES PATENT; F CE f together, a substantially cylindrical. chamber. I 9. Each blade contains in its shank portion a lateral bead, the beads beingmarked 20 and 2|, respectively. The beads too are opposed to each other forming a lateral bulgefwhich fits into a correspondingly shaped slot 25 in handle 22. To pre- .vent relative movement of the blades with respect to each other, the'top blade has two spaced dips 23. Two spaced knobs 24 on the under-blade fit into the dips, thus preventing slippage of one blade off the other. The blades first manually held together in their respective position may be slipped sideways into the slot in handle 22 to be frictionally retained therein. The space Ill between troughs l3 and I! may be filled with an absorbent fibrous material, such as cotton or cloth or a similar other substance for a purpose which will be presently mentioned. ,7

' "Another species of my tool is shown in Figure 5. In this species the edge portion 25 of top blade 21, has two end tongues 28 instead of a continuous lip as shown by numerals I 5 in the first described species of my tool. 'However, the under-blade 29 has a lip 30 of its own, this being set at a slight diverging angle from the flat surface of the edge portion 26. Otherwise the structural design of the blades is like that shown in the first described species.

In use, the tool is brought up to a flat surface on the line beyond which paint should not be applied. Such a line is shown in Figure 1 by numeral 3|. The brush 32 may be wie ded above the line and partly over the edge 14 of the tool. As the top plate is resilient and as the lip l5 extends somewhat beyond the underlying edge of the under plate II, a spacing is created between the edge of the lower plate when the top p ate is pressed against the surface as shown in Figure 4. Any excess paint that has found its way past the lip l5 would run into said s acing towards the fibrous material 33 in which it would accumulate or by which it might be partly absorbed.

Another example of the use of my tool is shown in Figure 4, wherein the tool is applied into a corner between a pane of glass and a frame therefor.

The use of the species shown in Figure 5 is analogous except that by reason of the tongues 30 there would be a spacing left between edge 26 and surface to be painted. The spacing would be just about suflicient to admit a small quantity of paint into angular spaces such as between the frame of a window and the adjoining wall, at the juncture thereof, but any excessive paint would chamber.

be diverted into the space between the blades. In this instance the tongues aid materially in separating the blades. When the tool is brought against a fiat surface it is the tongues which first come in contact with it. A pressure on the handle in the direction of said flat surface will next cause the under blade to engage said surface. When the pressure is released, the under blade will automatically leave the surface first.

This is an important feature, as it will prevent 1 smears of paint on removing the tool from the surface in question.

It will be understood that some changes may be made in the structure of my tool without devi-- ating from the inventive idea herein disclosedby me. What I therefore wish to claim is as follows: 1. A tool of the kind described including two broad surface blades, each provided -with a straight edge at the operative end thereof, the blades being in abutment along their surfacesand the edge of the top blade extending forwardly of the under blade,each blade having a lateral depression rearwardly of the edge, the depressions facing each other to form a chamber for absorbent materiaLthe top blade being flexible for the deflection of its edge from the edge of the underlying blade to permit access to said 2. In a .tool of the described, two flexible broad surface blades in abutment along their sur faces, each blade having at its operative end a straight edge, the edge of the top bladeprojecting forwardly of the ed e of the under blade, each blade having a lateral depression parallel to its operative edge and in a spaced relation there o, said depression extendingoutwardly away from the adjoining blade, the depression-in one blade facing the depression in the opposite blade, to provide a laterally'disposed chamber,

the top blade being flexible-for its deflection from the edge of the under bladeon application to a flat surface to causes. spacing between the -resaid chamber, and a handle, two flexible, broad-surfaced blades in said handle, the blades bein in abutment along their surfaces, each blade having at its operative end a straight edge, the top blade projecting over the edge of the under blade, at least one of the blades including a laterally disposed, inverted trough to form a chamber in a spaced relation to the'ed'ges of'the blades at the operative end of the to0l,absorbentmaterial disposedwithin "said chamber, the top blade being adapted tobe deflected from the edge of the under blade on application of the top blade against a flat surface.

" ADOLFREINCKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES 'PA'I'ENTS Number,

Name Date 7 407,143 Woodhull July 16, 1889 695,965 Taylor et a1. Mar. 25, 1902 1,001,532 Kenyon et a1. 1 Aug. 22, 1911 1,158,348 Welty Oct, 26, 1915 1,386,706. Hall a Aug. 9, 1921 1,810,221 OConnell June 16, 1931 2,098,005 Holt Nov. 2, 1937 2,290,472 Hendrick July '21, 1942 

